Sisi Calls On Egyptians to Protest Friday, Mandate the Army to Confront Violence

Supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi clash with riot police (file photo).

Egypt's Army Chief and Defence Minister Abdel Fattah al-Sisi called on Egyptians to protest on Friday to mandate the army to confront violence and terrorism, in a televised speech on Wednesday.

He stressed that the army will do what it deems as necessary for such a confrontation, adding, "That does not mean that I am advocating for violence."

Sisi added that there will be no retreat on the roadmap, which was put forth by the army following its ouster of Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on July 3, for political transition.

Libya Prepares Constitution Amid Insecurity

Tripoli and Asmaa Elourfi in Benghazi — Libya on Saturday (July 20th) took the first step towards drafting its new democratic constitution.

Interim Prime Minister Ali Zidan, former National Transitional Council President Mustafa Abdel Jalil and other dignitaries were on hand in al-Bayda as General National Congress (GNC) President Nouri Abu Sahmein formally authorised a panel to create the historic document.

The 60 seats on the new Libya constitutional commission will be equally distributed among the country's three main regions. Six seats will be reserved for women and six for ethnic minorities. The panel members will be decided through an election.

Speaking at the al-Bayda signing ceremony for the constitutional commission draft law, former GNC President Mohamed Magarief called on Libyans not to let the historic opportunity slip through their hands.

"We must free ourselves from the constraints of ignorance, backwardness, tyranny, oppression, corruption, chaos, envy and hatred. We must resolve never to go back to them," Magarief said.

In his address, Prime Minister Zidan also focused on the security crisis, describing the "easy shedding of Libyan blood, senseless violence and lack of respect for responsibility".

"This matter calls for an enhancement of our interdependence and cohesion and to stand in front of all those who want to destroy what we are building. I call on the Libyan people to persevere," Zidan told attendees.

One of the men who contributed to writing the 1951 constitution, Taher Alem, agreed that a modern Libya required peace and security.

But even as Libya moved forward with the democratic transition, violence continued across the country.

The same day as the constitutional panel ceremony, the Libyan military mourned a senior Libyan Air Force officer found dead Friday in Benghazi.

Colonel Aqila Mailoud al-Obeidi, head of the Search and Rescue division, was kidnapped Thursday evening while returning from al-Bayda, where he had been visiting the family of a colleague murdered earlier in the week in Derna.

Al-Obeidi, a skilled linguist, worked as a translator for Kadhafi interior minister turned rebel military chief Abdel Fattah Younes, who was assassinated in 2011.

Also on Saturday, the son of the Western region military chief and two of his friends were murdered in Tripoli. Mukhtar Fernana, known to be close to the Zintan tribe, was targeted by unidentified gunmen while driving.

Then in Benghazi, military explosives experts dismantled two bombs placed inside the medical college complex at the university.

The explosives were the same type used in all the previous explosions in the city, Benghazi Joint Security Room spokesman Mohammed Hijazi said.

"What is happening in Benghazi is a settling of scores, in the absence of law and efficient justice," commented Ali Ben Youssef, a 37-year-old electricity engineer.

"We await the establishment of the constitution for these problems to disappear," he said. "What we fear is the approval of the constitution at gunpoint."

Court Challenge for Museveni Over Minister

Opposition deputies in Uganda plan to petition the Constitutional Court later this week over a key ministerial appointment. Some see grounds for impeaching President Museveni.

Opposition politicians in Uganda say the constitution clearly stipulates that a serving army officer cannot hold political office.

They object to the appointment of General Aronda Nyakasirima as minister for internal affairs, saying he is still a serving officer.

Nyakasirima was transferred from his post as Chief of Defense Forces to internal affairs in a cabinet reshuffle in late May. He officially takes up his ministerial duties on Wednesday (24.07.2013).

Opposition parliamentarian Mathias Mpuga told Deutsche Welle President Yoweri Museveni could have sought advice before confirming this particular appointment, but chose not do so.

"The fact that he has gone on to confirm it and did not wait to get sound advice means that his action was willful breach of the constitution," he said.

Hidden agenda

The opposition say they want the constitutional court to clarify whether - in a multiparty democracy - a serving army officer can enter politics without resigning, and then return to a post as army commander after having left a cabinet post.

DW correspondent in Kampala, Leylah Ndinda, said the government is confident it is doing the right thing, but the subject has not been welcomed by many Ugandans. "They think Museveni has a hidden agenda. Why he is appointing a former army commander to be in charge of internal affairs."

Meanwhile police arrested a leading opposition figure, Kizza Besigye, on Monday claiming he was about to stage illegal rallies. He was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday.

Opposition activists said last week they were planning rallies against what they saw were unfair taxes on water and kerosene.

But even if there is a ground swell of discontent with the country's leadership, the chances of Museveni being removed from office by impeachment appear remote.

Museveni has large majority in parliament

Henry Kasacca is a Uganda-based political analyst. He told Deutsche Welle that even though the constitution provides for the impeachment of the president, civil society in Uganda is currently extremely weak.

He added President Museveni's political party, the NRM (National Resistance Movement) commands over two thirds of parliament and more than 90 percent of all elected positions at local level.

Kasacca also questions whether the opposition has made any plans to impeach the president.

"Those going to court right now are going to challenge the appointment of one single minister, but that is not necessarily impeaching the president, he said.

Mpuga appears undeterred. "I can only speak with certainty that we shall get the requisite numbers... to impeach the president. Whether we succeed or not, the sticking matter is to get a judgment that agrees with our point of view that it is unconstitutional to appoint a serving officer in a partisan government," he said.

Ruto Accuses NGOs of Coaching ICC Witnesses

Deputy President William Ruto now claims that he has strong evidence to show that local and international NGOs have a scheme to fabricate evidence against him at the ICC.

Ruto has now applied to the Trial Chamber V(a) to compel Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda put eight witnesses, whom he accuses of being coached to lie against him on the witness stand immediately after the opening statements at the onset of the trial.

"By calling these witnesses first, the Chamber will be able to chart the proper and just course of this trial from its outset and help prevent a miscarriage of justice," Ruto argued.

The Deputy President also wants the Prosecution's lead investigator put on the witness stand, as the ninth witness, for overseeing the selection process of the eight witnesses.

"This scheme links all eight witnesses. It has been years in the making and has been, or still is, supported by various international and domestic Kenyan organisations," Ruto's lawyer Karim Khan told the judges on Friday.

Khan added that the witnesses were part of a scheme to cook evidence against Ruto saying they must testify first so that the alleged scam can be unmasked at the earliest opportunity.

"To use a Kenyan colloquialism, based on witness statements and documents, the Defence has substantial grounds to believe that these eight key prosecution witnesses have been part of a deliberate and concerted scheme to "cook" evidence against Mr. Ruto," Khan said.

Ruto's defense lawyers also argued that the trial was likely to take a lot of time and that it would therefore be necessary to test the core of the case from the onset.

Khan added that the order that Ruto is proposing will protect the integrity of these proceedings and, thus, better assist the Trial Chamber to discharge its truth finding mandate.

"Defence investigations have revealed that these eight witnesses are engaged in a concerted process to contaminate Prosecution investigations to a significant extent through the deliberate and organised fabrication of evidence," Khan said.

The Deputy President further observed that it would be unfair to wait for a minimum of 160 hours as prosecution witnesses testify before even one defense principal witness is heard.

"The Prosecution case is scheduled to take approximately 726 hours, which, if the Court sits for five hours per day, amounts to 145.2 days. Accordingly, the Defence submits the core of the Prosecution case should be tested at the outset of trial particularly when the Defence has sound reasons to believe that this core is rotten," Ruto said.

Ruto and former journalist Joshua Sang trial is due to open on September 10 at the Hague while that of President Uhuru Kenyatta is expected to kick off on November 12.

The prosecution has already dropped some of its witnesses due to inconsistencies in their testimonies with some coming out to say that they lied in their initial statements.

Last week, Bensouda notified the judges of the withdrawal of three witnesses in the case against Uhuru with the ICC saying that the prosecutor may have to look for new witnesses in the future.

"The prosecutor might seek to add other witnesses in the future if suitable replacements for these witnesses are forthcoming," ICC spokesperson Fadi El Abdallah said.

Morsi's Family Threatens Egypt's Army Over "Kidnap" of Ex-President

Mohammed Morsi's family has vowed to take legal action against Egypt's army for "kidnapping" the former president.

The army has held Morsi since it overthrew him on July 3 following mass anti-government protests.

Several countries, including the United States and Germany, have called for Morsi's release. However, Egypt's interim authorities have rejected those calls, claiming that they have kept him in a "safe place" since his overthrow earlier this month (pictured).

"We are taking local and international legal measures against [army chief] Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the leader of the bloody military coup, and his putschist group," the president's daughter, Shaimaa Morsi  told reporters.

Concerns over Sinai becoming new terrorist base

The situation in Sinai has been escalating: Militants are attacking on a daily basis and new extremist groups emerging. Security experts can only speculate about how strong these groups are, and how they're linked.

"We hold the leader of the military group and the whole of his putschist group responsible for the health and safety of president Morsi," she added at the family's press conference in Cairo.

The statement represents the first public communication from Morsi's family since the military overthrew the president on July 3. Morsi himself has been held incommunicado and at an undisclosed location for that entire stretch. Officials in the interim government have said the measures mean to protect Morsi.

Ruto - ICC Witnesses Are 'Cooking' Evidence

Nairobi — Deputy President William Ruto now claims that he has strong evidence to show that local and international non governmental organisations have hatched a scheme to fabricate evidence against him at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Ruto has now applied to the Trial Chamber V to force the Prosecutor put eight witnesses, whom he accuses of being coached to lie against him on the witness stand immediately after the opening statement at the onset of the trial.

He wants the witnesses called to testify first so that the Trial Chamber can determine their validity and chart a proper way forward so as to prevent what he calls 'a miscarriage of justice'.

The Deputy President also wants the Prosecution's lead investigator put on the witness stand, as the ninth witness, for overseeing the selection process of the eight witnesses.

"This scheme links all eight witnesses. It has been years in the making and has been, or still is, supported by various international and domestic Kenyan organisations," he alleged.

In an application dated July 19, the Deputy President added that the witnesses were part of a scheme to cook evidence against him saying they must testify first so that the alleged scam can be unmasked at the earliest opportunity.

"To use a Kenyan colloquialism, based on witness statements and documents, the Defence has substantial grounds to believe that these eight key prosecution witnesses have been part of a deliberate and concerted scheme to "cook" evidence against Mr. Ruto," argued Ruto's lawyers.

Ruto's defense lawyers also argued that the trial was likely to take a lot of time and that it would therefore be necessary to test the core of the case from the onset.

The Deputy President further observed that it would be unfair to wait for a minimum of 160 hours as prosecution witnesses testify before even one defense principal witness is heard.

"The Prosecution case is scheduled to take approximately 726 hours, which, if the Court sits for five hours per day, amounts to 145.2 days. Accordingly, the Defence submits the core of the Prosecution case should be tested at the outset of trial particularly when the Defence has sound reasons to believe that this core is rotten," urged Ruto.

Several witnesses have dropped out in the first case, where Ruto and former journalist Joshua Sang are co-accused, and case II against President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The most recent drop out was once again in Kenyatta's case where the Prosecution has so far lost a total of 25 out of 30 key witnesses.

"The prosecution hereby notifies the chamber of the withdrawal of three witnesses from its list of witnesses to be relied on at trial," asserted the ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda in an earlier notification to the Trial Chamber.

Ruto and Sang trial is due to open on September 10 at the Hague while that of Kenyatta is expected to kick off on November 12.

Military, Police Take Over Security in Prisons

The federal government has overhauled security system in Nigerian prisons to curb recurring incidence of jail breaks and attacks on the facilities by gunmen suspected to be insurgents.

Unlike the past where only prison officials kept vigil in and around the prisons, the government has set joint military and police task forces to shield the prisons from invasion by gunmen and jailbreaks by inmates and their collaborators outside the prison.

At the two prisons in Yola and Jimeta, Adamawa State, LEADERSHIP Sunday observed water-tight security around the formations. It was gathered that the measure was informed by the incessant attacks on prisons formations in some states in the North East geo-political zones of the country.

In the serial attacks on the prison formations in the state, many people including prison officials and inmates have been killed while several others have escaped.

LEADERSHIP Sunday also learnt that the new arrangement is aimed at strengthening the emergency rule imposed on the state by the federal government.

The prison authorities have also adopted other measures including blocking of roads that lead to prison formations with the assistance of military and police personnel.

During a visit to the area, men of the task force were seen to have blocked the road that connects the Jimeta Prison. This affected traffic flow from the two ends of the town.

Another joint patrol teamwas seen manning the YolaPrison although it did not bar motorists from plying the road due to what an insider source said was the close proximity of the prison formation to the palace of the Lamido Adamawa.

In Ondo State, the June 30, 2013 jail break at the Olokuta Minimum Security Prisons in Akure, has also forced the government to beef up security in the facility.

About 175 inmates escaped from the prison located on the Ondo/AkureRoad in in the state capital.It was learned that men of the Nigeria Police, the Nigerian Army, the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and other security agencies have moved to secure the prison.

The Nigerian Army, 32 Artillery, Owena Barracks, Akure had also deployed men to the premises immediately after the incident to support armed policemen who were drafted to the place.

Since the incident, visitors to the prison have been made to pass through rigorous screening before being allowed access to their relatives who are inmates of the prison.

Two road blocks have also been mounted on the Ondo-AkureRoad by the Nigerian Army. One is at the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) before the prison and the other at Olokuta village after the prison.

The state command police public relations officer (PRO), Mr WoleOgodo,confirmed that various steps have been taken to secure the prison

He said that, "What I can say now is that necessary security mechanism has been put in place which is not for public consumption".

In Katsina State, prison warden still man the 10 prisons with capacity for about 1,543 inmates, which however host more than 2,000 inmates.

In spite of all the challenges, it is observed that the prisons in the state has not witnessed incidence of jail breaks. This may not be unconnected with the tightened security within and around the prisons.

In all the formations, heavy presence of prison wardens was noticedwiththe entrances and exit routes barricaded.

A top officer of the state prisons command who sought anonymity attributed the frequent cases of jail breaks and attacks to the worsening insecurity situation, but quickly added that the state has not experience any jail break in recent time.